2023-03-05 Made Righteous By Faith

This Psalm is one of the songs that was sung on the way up to the temple in Jerusalem, a song of ascents. It’s a song expressing faith in God, the maker of heaven and earth. It declares confidence in God’s sustaining grace. That no matter the time of day or the hardships encountered, God never sleeps and he will keep watch over those who trust in him.

Where did this writer’s faith come from? Where did this confidence in God’s protection come from?

Well, we don’t know who the writer was nor their particular circumstances, but I imagine at least some of the thoughts expressed here could have come through reflection on the nation of Israel’s history with God. For example, two of the three Patriarchs traveled extensively. Abraham traveled from Ur to Harran, to Canaan, then Egypt and back again. His grandson Jacob traveled from Canaan to Harran and back again and at the end of his life to Egypt. Both of them, and Isaac between them, trusted in God throughout their journeys. This history of faith in God started with the story of God speaking to Abram and making a series of promises to bless him if he followed his lead.

Let’s take a little time to look at these words from God to Abram.

Abram Obeyed God

(read Genesis 12:1-4) (blank)

The story in Genesis up until Genesis 11:9 told the story of all people on earth. Adam and Eve, their children and then the flood story. The latter part of chapter 11 tells us the genealogy from Shem, Noah’s son, to Abram. Now God starts something new. He works with one man and his descendants.

The first part of the revelation Abram receives is a command. Go. Leave your country, your relatives, and go to the place I will show you. That place ended up being the land of Canaan. If Abram obeyed God in this, God would promise to bless him.

The word bless or blessing occurs five times in this short sentence. What is a blessing from God? “A wish, expression, or gift for the wellbeing of another. In cases of divine blessing, it becomes an act in favor of the one being blessed.” (blank)

Who does God promise to bless? Abram, but not just Abram.

V2a – “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you.” God directly promises to bless Abram.

V2b – “I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.” Not only will God bless Abram, many, many people will know about him and he will be become a blessing. Who will he be a blessing to? It’s not said. It’s as if once God blesses Abram, this blessing will rub off on the people he comes into contact with, at least those who don’t work against him but work in cooperation with him. This idea is reinforced in the next statement of blessing.

V3a – “I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you I will curse;” Yup, if you want God’s blessing, work with Abram. If you want God to work against you, work against Abram.

The final blessing is the biggest of all.

V3b – “and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” That is an astounding promise, but it has definitely held true. How many people are spiritually descended from Abram through Jesus? Billions. In short, Abram’s life will enhance and make better the lives of the entire world!

Later, in chapter 15, during another conversation between God and Abram, God expanded on his earlier promises to Abram. (read Genesis 15:1-6) (blank)

When Abram is first introduced in chapter 11 his wife Sarai is described as barren. Many years later that is still the case. God promises Abram that he will have a son and that his descendants will be more numerous than the stars of the sky. Then comes an interesting sentence, “Abram believed the Lord and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

There is no further commentary on this statement in the rest of the FT. But it is picked up in the New Testament by Paul when he wrote the book of Romans. Luann read this passage earlier.

Righteousness through Faith

Let’s turn to it now. Romans 4:1-5, 13-17 (read Romans 4:1-5) (blank)

This passage in Romans is a foundational passage of our faith. It was a catalyst of the reformation in Europe when the Protestant churches broke away from the Roman Catholic church. By the time of the 1500’s Roman Catholicism had become a law and fear-based faith. For Martin Luther, Romans 4 made it clear to him that following the laws of the church would not earn him the grace of God. Paul, the author of Romans, before he was a Christian, had been a model pharisee. He was convinced that if he obeyed the law of God to the letter, as well as he could, that he would then receive salvation. He had been convinced that Jesus was an imposter and a fraud and that his followers were leading people away from God. Then, on the road to Damascus, spoke to him from heaven and he had to rethink everything he knew about faith in God.

Jesus himself had made it clear when he was teaching that salvation came through him. Listen to Jesus’ words in John 5:24, “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.” (blank) A short while later Jesus described himself as the bread of life and that whoever ate his flesh and drank his blood would have eternal life. It was a graphic way of saying that salvation was found in him.

In Romans 3:21-25a says, (read). (blank)

Paul understood the message of Jesus, that salvation came through him, that through the atonement sacrifice of Jesus, sin would be dealt with for once and for all.

As he reflected on the faith history of the Jewish people, he thought way back, at least 500 years before the giving of the law, to a time even before the sign of circumcision, to the early years of Abrams sojourn and he saw something there he had never seen before. The righteousness of God comes, not by obeying all the law of God, not be being circumcised, not through any efforts of people or any ritual, but through simple faith in God. “Abram believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Abram simply believed God’s promise and trusted that God would carry it out.

This was earth shattering for Paul and finally made sense of Jesus’ words. Jesus was calling all people to once again simply put their trust in God by believing that God had sent him and that he was the atoning sacrifice for our sin.

Conclusion

We’ve just heard a testimony from Louis. Louis isn’t Jewish, he’s French. And by his own testimony, Louis had no righteousness of his own. He was lost and without hope. Every one of us, whether we grew up in a Christian home or not, are in that state of being unrighteous unless we put our trust in Jesus and believe that God sent him. If we do, we become spiritual children of Abraham, one of the countless stars promised has his descendants. (read Romans 4:13-17) (blank)

During this Lenten season, as we go from our winter of darkness to springtime of light, let’s remember that individually we can also go from darkness to light. Not by working harder to live rightly. Not by relying on being from the right family or following the right rituals. We go from darkness to light through the simple and profound act of believing in the God who sent Jesus. When we put our trust in Jesus as the atoning sacrifice for our sin, like Abram, we receive his righteousness.

Let’s pray.

Benediction: Psalm 67:1,2

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